The Infected
The Infected are Left 4 Dead's take on the classic zombie. Rather than being undead, they are living humans who have been infected by the Green Flu virus, causing massively increased aggression and loss of many higher brain functions, such as speech and self-preservation. Also unlike zombies, the Infected seem to have no interest in eating their victims. Only biting and that can some times turn that victim into an Infected. Through some unknown mechanism, a small percentage of infected humans will undergo a dramatic mutation, eventually turning into one of the special infected. There are nine varieties of the Infected, 7 of which are playable. Eight varieties are considered "Boss Infected", or "Special Infected", which have special abilities in addition to doing more damage against the Survivors. AI Controlled Infected Common Infected .]] ]] Common Infected, as their name implies, are the most commonly-faced enemy, as well as the easiest to defeat. They are more akin to the antagonists from the films 28 Days Later and Quarantine than to the typical shambling zombie. They are exclusively AI-controlled and fairly weak. Their strength lies in their tendency to attack in large groups of up to several dozen, known as hordes. While they seem capable of ignoring pain, they can still be killed easily. They are capable of climbing ladders and scaling objects, as well as breaking down weak walls and doors. This type of Infected are attracted by flashlights, loud noises such as car alarms, or by Boomer bile. They appear to lack self-preservation, but do appear to have some intelligence as in the Hard Rain campaign the Horde will attack when the storm picks up and there is minimal visibility (or maybe they get really aggressive or get attracted to the lightning and noise of the storm) Hordes .]] A horde is a large group of Common Infected that will rush the Survivors either at random intervals, during the finales, as a response to Boomer Bile/bile bombs, or in response to loud, high-pitched noises and/or bright lights (car-alarms, most alarms or noises during Panic Events, pipe bombs). Uncommon Infected Left 4 Dead 2 introduced six special types (seven counting Jimmy Gibbs) of Common Infected known as "Uncommon Infected" or "Uncommon common". Each Uncommon Infected is unique to the campaign it appears in. Dead Center features the Infected CEDA Workers and Jimmy Gibbs Jr. Dead Center features Fallen Survivors, Dark Carnival features the Clown Infected, Swamp Fever features the Mud Men, Hard Rain features the Worker Infected, The Parish features the Riot Infected, and The Passing will include the Fallen Survivors. Each has its own special ability that makes them slightly more dangerous than Common Infected. The Witch The Witch generally only appears a few times per campaign, and is passive unless provoked by flashlights, gunfire, or Survivors in close proximity. She is very powerful, and is capable of incapacitating/killing players with a single attack, as well as sustaining much damage before dying. Luckily, many hints are given to let Survivors know when a Witch is nearby. The Witch cries loudly, which Survivors will mention they hear, warn you to turn off your flashlight, and dramatic music will play. While the Witch can be killed, it is best to avoid startling her unless absolutely necessary. The most common means of her being startled is by staying near her too long or bumping into her. However, advertised in the intro movie of Left 4 Dead it shows the witch being startled by a survivor shining a flashlight on her. Some believe that the witch is agitated by the light, but some others think that the light is not what scares her, but rather it is just that if you get close enough to shine the light, you being so close is what startles her. This is subject to some controversy. The Witch is very rarely found in small rooms and normally stays off the main route but has been found in front of safe rooms, doorways and in the middle of streets. Once a Witch has killed a Survivor she will retreat out the area and completely disappear. However, in some strange cases, the witch has been known to kill the closest survivor to it. This does not usually happen, and when it does, the witch runs off as normal after killing the survivor. Also, if a player blocks the Witch from attacking the Survivor who startled her, she will attack the Survivor blocking her and either incapacitate the blocking player and run away or incapacitate both the blocking player and the player who startled her. If a Witch must be killed then you have one of four options: # Sneak up on the Witch and attempt to kill it with the Auto Shotgun. (If the initial head shot connects but does not kill, only one or two more shots should kill it.) # Have one player move far back, as far away from the Witch as possible. The Witch will target the player that disturbed it, meaning it will attack the farther away player providing he or she shot or shined a flash light on it. This will allow the other players to shoot the Witch as it is running to the farther away player. When using this method watch for Special Infected as they may ruin the plan or even kill the team if they attack at the right moment. # In Left 4 Dead 2, two or more players can quickly kill the witch with a coordinated attack using melee weapons, or a single player with a chainsaw. The amount of players necessary to kill her without a chainsaw will vary based on difficulty, two is typically enough. # In Left 4 Dead 2, if a player has the explosive ammo upgrade on any primary weapon, they can use it to stun the Witch, leaving her vulnerable for attack, making her much easier to kill. * In Left 4 Dead 2's Hard Rain campaign, a large number of Witches have infested an abandoned sugar mill, which the Survivors must traverse to obtain fuel for their rescue boat. An achievement, Sob Story, is earned for navigating the sugar mill without killing any of them. * [[Witch (Soundtrack)|''The Witch's music cue.]] The Wandering Witch '''The Wandering Witch' appears in Left 4 Dead 2. She is seen only in the daylight hours, aimlessly wandering around and sobbing loudly with her head in her hands. Her constant movement makes her harder to avoid, but she is also far more introverted and reacts only to direct attack or physical contact. One can even damage her slightly with out startling her. The Wandering Witch remains as vulnerable as ever to headshots from a shotgun, and her more placid nature makes her much easier to crown. Playable Infected Playable Infected, or Special Infected, have been heavily mutated by the Infection, giving them "enhanced abilities". Each has a unique ability that a Survivor cannot face alone, making them the true teamwork testers in this game. They do not appear to be attracted by car alarms or loud noise and seem to have a higher degree of intelligence than Common Infected. They are deadly to lone wolf Survivors, but can be easily avoided and defeated through communication and synergy. The Boomer The Boomer is an Infected that vomits a special bile at Survivors, which temporarily blinds them and draws Common Infected to them. At a distance the Boomer is little threat, his large size, slow speed and low health make him an easy target against any weapon at mid or long range. However, if within range he can vomit on Survivors, attracting the Horde. When he dies, he explodes, covering any Survivors who are close enough with bile, blinding them and causing them to stumble backwards. The Boomer is notorious on the Expert difficulty for being able to snipe survivors. Boomers can be anticipated because of the near-constant gurgling they make. In Left 4 Dead 2 there is also a female Boomer, although the gender has no affect on gameplay. The Hunter The Hunter is similar to the fast zombies from Half-Life 2, although they are not as mutated on the outside. The Hunter is extremely quick and agile, capable of quickly scaling walls. Additionally, he can pounce and pin down Survivors, clawing at their abdomen until either the victim is dead, or the Hunter has been knocked off by another Survivor. They are not the most physically robust Infected, having relatively low health, and thus it doesn't take very much to kill them. When the Hunter crouches down in preparation to pounce, it growls, giving it away to any nearby Survivors. However, whilst standing it makes no noise. The Hunter is the only Special Infected that can remain absolutely silent. In Left 4 Dead 2 they can be killed with a melee weapon while in the state of pouncing by aiming upwards and hitting although this is fairly difficult as timing is vital and it's easier to kill them from a distance with a high powered primary weapon. The Smoker The Smoker is an ambush class who can strangle Survivors with his long tongue, similar to Half-Life's Barnacle. The help of another Survivor is required to escape from a Smoker's hold. As the name implies, Smokers emit smoke to impair Survivors' vision and voice communication when killed. A Smoker also will frequently cough, letting the Survivors know when he is in the area. The Smoker can drag players that he has captured with his tongue towards himself, though he remains stationary and cannot move. The Smoker is also momentarily paralyzed for a few seconds after having his tongue removed from his captive by another Survivor. The Tank The Tank is the strongest of the Special Infected and is reasonably fast, only slowing if hit with automatic weapons fire or walking through flame. If any Survivors at 40% or above health (including health gained from pain pills or the Adrenaline injector) are running away from the Tank, it will not be able to catch them as they can run slightly faster. The Tank has incredible strength and resistance, his punch can send Survivors flying, rendering them temporarily defenseless, and in expert mode, instantly incapacitate them. The blow can also send Survivors off high hazards to their deaths. He is also capable of throwing chunks of concrete that he rips out of the ground to momentarily stun Survivors, and can punch large objects in the direction of Survivors with enough force to incapacitate them instantly. Nevertheless, the Tank will die within 30 seconds if set on fire, except in Versus. When controlled by a player, the Tank has a "Control Meter", unless the player is able to locate the Survivors and hit one of them, the Control Meter of the tank will slowly lessen, and once it runs out, the player will lose control of the Tank to another randomly assigned player. When idle the Tank makes loud wheezing and rasping noises reminiscent of a rabid animal. The Survivors are alerted of an approaching Tank by dramatic music, furious roars and, when he is dangerously close, the screen will start to shake. ''The Tank's Music Cue'' The Charger The Charger is a Special Infected appearing in Left 4 Dead 2. The Charger grabs the first Survivor and carries, continuing to run forward and knock down other Survivors in its way. Once the Charger has hit a wall or other surface, or after it has run a certain distance, it will begin slamming its captive into the ground until an ally frees them. It appears to have a rocky or calloused surface on its larger right arm, which may be what it uses to inflict most of its force when charging; while its other arm appears to have no bones or muscle, flopping around like a rag doll. Because of its hulking size, the Charger cannot be shoved off with melee, and must be killed in order to release its victim. Any Survivor that has been knocked out of the way during its charge will fly a considerable distance, and slowly stand back up; making the Charger a deadly foe in cramped hallways or near high passageways. The Jockey The Jockey is a Special Infected that appears in Left 4 Dead 2. It is a smaller, hunched back Infected that attacks Survivors by clinging to them from behind and literally riding the Survivor while attacking them. He can also shift his weight around and cause the Survivor to stumble in his desired direction giving this Special Infected a type of control over the Survivor. Survivors who are being ridden by the Jockey can attempt to 'resist' the Jockey, which will allow other players a chance to catch up and knock the Jockey off. Jockeys can ride Survivors into dangerous situations, such as into natural hazards, Witches, or other infected. The Jockey seems to have a spinal disease, similar to Kyphosis, giving him a hunched appearance. He also has a maniacal laugh, is constantly twitching, giving him sort of a hyper-active nature. The Spitter The Spitter is a new Special Infected in Left 4 Dead 2. She spits an acidic phlegm bomb that spreads upon impact; any Survivor caught within the acid puddle will take increasing amounts of damage, forcing them to move or become incapacitated. The Spitter's primary role is to separate the Survivors when they hide in enclosed spaces or group up. When a Spitter is killed an acid puddle spreads under and around her corpse, causing the same type of damage as her phlegm bomb. The Spitter plays a particularly important role in Scavenge mode, as her phlegm can be used to ignite gas cans. Behind the Scenes * The idea of fighting mass hordes of melee-only Infected originated from a quick mini-game Turtle Rock Studios made while programming their Counter-Strike Source bots. The bots had knives, while the players had SMGs to fight them off with. * Originally, there was going to be a Special Infected named The Screamer. He would run from Survivors, hide, then let out a scream attracting the horde; he was removed as game testers found it too difficult to locate and kill him before he could summon a horde, and his Horde-summoning ability was given to the Boomer's bile. Although in Left 4 Dead 2, there exists a Clown Infected, a type of Uncommon Infected, which can summon a small horde of infected around him with his squeaky shoes. * In the Left 4 Dead sound files there are sounds for an infected dog, it seems to have been cut, but all of the sounds are still in the game files. Some sounds have been recycled for the Hunter. Notes *It is still unclear whether who actually gave the Infected their names, in-game. It was probably some external faction, as the Survivors from both games use the same names for them, after initial encounters. Possible candidates include CEDA, the military, the media, or even various survivors. * Some of the names of the Special Infected, if not all, seem to have been assigned to them by CEDA or the government, and not by the Survivors themselves. For example, in Left 4 Dead 2, there is a poster early on in the Dead Center campaign with photos labeled "Boomer", and on the side of bile bombs there is a label stating that the jar contains "Boomer Excretion". When Rochelle speaks of Smokers, she says that they were called Smokers on the news. Witches are also referred to by name on a safe room wall in Hard Rain, stating that the Sugar Mill is "full of Witches". Also, when exiting the Sugar Mill Safe room, the building opposite to it has a banner hanging from the roof with the text, "Stay away, Witches!". ** Of course, these could also be cases of official sources catching onto and using more well-known epithets for the Special Infected; as the aforementioned examples are all from the second game, which takes place three weeks after the initial Infection. * Almost every Infected and deceased being in the game appears to have faded textures in comparison to the colorfully textured Survivors. This is probably to help prevent cases of mistaken identity between Survivors and Infected. It could also mean that the infected are slowly dying, as a very sickly person can look pale, and dead bodies will lose color as the blood circulation stops. * At the Bridge finale in Left 4 Dead 2, if the player listens to the military conversation on the radio long enough, the pilot mentions seeing flashes on the west bank (i.e. the side with the survivors on it.) The other soldier asks if it was Survivors or "Whiskey Delta" to which the pilot is unsure. Whiskey Delta is probably the term the military use for the Infected, though they also use the term Infected when they questioned the Survivors if they are immune. One of the possible responses is, or along the lines of "Hell yeah we've fought Zombies!", which they accept as the Infected, meaning they understand that the Survivors refer to the Infected as such. **It's common knowledge that the military creates initials and acronyms out of the names of their enemies, then uses words that begin with the same letters. The most prominently known example would be Victor Charlie which has the initial V.C. That, of course, refers to the Vietcong during the Vietnam War, therefore "Whisky Delta" could be "Wandering Dead" e.g. zombies ***This is highly confirmed by looking at the Fr version of the game; Military refers to infected as " Mac Victor ", M.V. being the initials of " Mort Vivant ", the french translation of " Wandering Dead ". * The Infected seem to have become much stronger in Left 4 Dead 2. For example, in normal gameplay, the Boomer stumbles much less when melee'd than in the first game and on Versus mode, as a Special Infected, you can kill a Common Infected with one claw attack as opposed to the first game, where it took several claw attacks to kill a single Common Infected. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QKYeVvxb0o http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QKYeVvxb0o. * The Special Infected that appear in Left 4 Dead have mutated further in Left 4 Dead 2 since the Infection virus has spread further, and possibly advanced. This is shown as the Smoker now has multiple tongues, the Tank has more muscles and less hair, and the Boomer appears gorier. Also, the Hunter appears to have more boils and lesions than in the first game, as well as seemingly having clawed off much of it's clothing. * It appears that most of the Special Infected have some form of intelligence. Smokers and Spitters will often run when sighted, hinting at a sense of self-preservation or at least the knowledge that their attacks must recharge. Also, Boomers and Hunters will often hide before attacking, but the Charger will just run straight into the Survivors without much intelligence or thought into attacking. A very important aspect of this, is that most Special Infected ignore pipe bombs, car alarms, and other noticable events; as opposed to Common Infected. * The Special Infected in Left 4 Dead 2 seem to appear in duos such as two Hunters/Boomers etc. during Crescendo Events such as the Mall Crescendo and the Barns Crescendo, as well as in finales, however this is most likely a glitch. * The Jockey is the only Special Infected to have one melee attack animation in both first and third person. The Spitter has multiple third person attack animations, and the Charger has two first person animations. * In Left 4 Dead, when in versus, it took many hits to kill Common Infected as a Special Infected (not counting the Tank). In Left 4 Dead 2, one hit from a player will kill them. This change is most likely due to the inclusion of the Bile bomb, and it's intended function as a method to get the infected to fight and kill each other wouldn't be very effective if they did very little damage to each other. It could also just show that the special infected are gaining strength at a rapid rate. * The Infected don't really seem to have a "method" of infecting others. Though this may depend on the Survivor's immunity; some Infected (like the Tank), seem to be built for killing rather than infecting. None of the Infected attack the player with actions that could transmit the Infection to them, disregarding the Hunter's bite. It is also unclear whether what the Infected can project (ex. Boomer bile or Spitter goo) is actually infectious. Or perhaps it is up to the Common infected to infect people while the special infected kill. * It is possible that the infected spread the Green Flu through the air, since when playing as the infected, you will see them coughing up a fog similar to the Smoker's trail of smoke he leaves. This could be what the Smoker was made for initially, pumping out the infection with every cough. Or this could simply be them breathing the cold October air. * When playing as the Special Infected, you can't see the Survivors's Aura if they aren't shooting, and walking/standing still. * When playing as an Infected, you can walk through all the other Infected with the exception of the Witch. References Category:The Infected